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Equal pay: Pay bill poses conundrum for SNP

Kenny Farquharson

Of all the tricky problems in Nicola Sturgeon’s in-tray for 2018, this is arguably the trickiest. It forces the first minister to juggle competing demands of natural justice, political advantage and financial reality. It could jeopardise her party’s most cherished political prize: control of Glasgow city council, seized from Labour in May last year.

Full implications of the SNP’s manifesto commitment on equal pay are only now becoming clear, with some council insiders fearing that the huge cost could bankrupt the city. Finding such large sums of money might well require a fire sale of assets and cuts to services, or it could saddle future generations with massive debt.

So should Ms Sturgeon step in and bail out the city’s SNP administration? This would carry…

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